Name: Colin Peel Age:
35 Haig Avenue, Southport 17/4/1976. My Grandparents lived a mile or so from Haig Avenue, and it was my late Grandfather who took me to my first ever match (along with my elder brother), a Division Four game against Stockport County. Southport provided the family's only connection with football, as my nan used to run the
tea bar at Haig Ave in the 1950s! Southport won the match I think, all I remember was the sound of the home fans kicking the corrugated iron at the back of the terracing when the "Sandgrounders" attacked, and dropping the onions out of my hot dog. And the language, which was bad. Dean Court, Bournemouth (2-1 v Hartlepool). Lively match in dire weather.
Date Completed:
Sunday 13th October 2002 Just under 19 years. The journey includes some 25 grounds belonging to clubs that have either left the League or moved to new grounds. Best Ground visited (& why). Fulham - Craven Cottage. The Cottage provided a quintessentially English football experience in a terrific setting on the banks of the Thames. The ground had a bit of everything - a lovely old stand, a fantastic frontage, a restrained modern stand, a unique quirk (the cottage), a big covered terrace, an open terrace and massive traditional floodlights. It helps that the two games I've seen here finished 0-6 (v Port Vale) and 7-0 (v Swansea). I'm also a sucker for woodland settings like Wycombe and Brighton. The Shay, Halifax, was perhaps the most basic at the time of my visit in 1989. A visit to St Andrews is always depressing, and I really dislike Colchester's Layer Road, which seems to have no redeeming features. Barnet was also poor, and the legroom at Charlton was so bad I had to be moved, but the worst ground had to be the old home of Northampton Town, the County Ground. Already missing one side because of the cricket pitch, the other three sides provided a variety of completely inadequate accommodation for watching football. Best experience on your travels: Pitching up at Maine Road on November 7th, 1987. Manchester City proceeded to wallop Huddersfield 10-1 with a phenomenal display of attacking football from a team of young talent that ultimately never delivered. Malcolm MacDonald was managing the hapless Huddersfield, who wore a hideous black and yellow checked kit for the day. I even got to watch the game again in the evening as Granada were covering it and I was a student in the North-West at the time. Having a photographer's pass for the JJB Stadium in Wigan was also a novel way of doing a ground. Worst experience on your travels: The vast majority of visits have been made as a neutral spectator, so I have avoided some of the horror stories that seem to go with following your team on the road. The worst that's happened is turning up at Chester's Sealand Road to find that the match was all-ticket when I was expecting to pay at the gate; I never actually got to see a game there. My first attempt to see Halifax was also foiled when I arrived at a frosty Shay to be greeted by a "Match Postponed" sign. The first (and last) time I took a car to a Villa game it was broken into despite there being nothing to nick. Funniest experience on your travels: When I first sat in Charlton's South Stand I thought "It's going to be an uncomfortable afternoon" - there was simply no legroom. Then a bloke with similarly large proportions as myself sat next to me and I thought "This is impossible". I explained the problem to a steward, who went to his Supervisor, who came back a couple of minutes later with a solution - I could sit in the mid-level disabled section. This was great for me as the view was perfect and the legroom unlimited. However, the guy in charge of the section could see that I had no physical disability so began to treat me as if I was mentally challenged (some would say I am, but that's another story). It felt a little patronising but the seat was brilliant! Most Goals Seen In One Match: Eleven - Man City 10, Huddersfield 1. Best Match Seen: The Man City goalfest is an obvious candidate, but a few more significant games stand out: Best Goal Seen: On a 92 visit, Paul Gascoigne for Tottenham (v Charlton, 10/3/1990). Otherwise, I like skill players such as Paul Cook, Garry Parker, Gordon Cowans and Robbie Blake, though Ryan Giggs overshadows everyone. The most remarkable performance I've seen was Steve Thornber's 15-minute hat-trick for Swansea at West Brom on 25/1/1992 - he only came on as a sub with 20 minutes left, but this wasn't a 92 visit. Stupidest Chant
Heard: Any tips for those attempting to visit the 92? Previous contributions contain much sound advice, but at the risk of repeating some of it: Return To The Done The Lot Section
|
|
Copyright © Duncan Adams
2003. All rights reserved.
|